Kate's Christmas surprise
by JAGlover5
Summary: I don't own the characters, just borrowing them. This story was written before the series finale, I just haven't had time to post it. Hope you like it! This is my first Castle fanfic! please review!


It was a cold, winter morning in New York City. Kate was awoken by the sunlight shining through the curtains. She sat up in the bed and opened her eyes to find that Rick was already out of bed and was apparently cooking breakfast, judging by the wonderful smells lingering throughout the loft. She climbed out of bed and walked down the hall to the two doors that were decorated with cute little signs. The one colored blue and yellow, read the name Aaden. The one colored pink and grey, read the name Mackenzie. She walked softly into Aaden's room to find that he was already out of his room. She walked into Mackenzie room expecting to find an empty crib but she was still laying there sleeping like a rock. Kate walked over and rested her hand lightly on her daughter's stomach. She stood there and thought about how fast she had grown. She was already 8 months old...and her son, Aaden was already 2 and ½. Mackenzie started rustling around so Kate picked her up and and began talking to her as she made her way to the kitchen to find Aaden in his booster seat at the table destroying the pancake that Rick had given him. She placed Mackenzie in her high-chair and fixed her self a cup of coffee. She greeted her husband with a good morning kiss.

"Good morning gorgeous" Rick greeted his wife.

"You're up early...what's the occasion" said a surprised Kate.

"Well, I have a fun-filled family day planned out for the five of us today! Alexis will be here in an hour so we need to finish breakfast and get showered and ready to go." Rick was very excited about the plans he had made. Meanwhile Kate had finished feeding the kids and was taking them both to their rooms to get them dressed and ready for the day. She heard the shower running and knew Rick would be done in a few minutes to take the kids while she got herself ready. She finished dressing her little ones and packed the diaper bag and took the kids to the den to play while she waited for Castle.

10 minutes later, Castle came through the doorway into the den with his belt and socks in his hands. He sat down on the chair and Aaden made a jungle-gym of him as he put his socks on. Kate had already made it to the bathroom and was in the shower washing the pancake crumbs out of her hair. She emerged 25 minutes later dressed and ready to go. Alexis was sitting on the couch playing with Mackenzie and Aaden was playing hide-and-go-seek with his Daddy. She looked out the window to her left and the curtain moved a little bit and she heard giggling. She walked over and pulled the curtain away from the wall and her son's sweet little face looked up at her. Aaden jumped out from behind the curtain and clung to his mom's leg. She bent down and picked him up to meet her eyes. She laughed as he gave her a big kiss right on her nose. She put him back down on the floor and said "Hey sweetie pie! Why don't you go get your shoes on and bring me your jacket and I will help you put it on, okay?"

He responded with an "otay!" and disappeared around the corner. Kate walked into the den where Alexis was sitting with Mackenzie. She walked over and picked Mackenzie up. "Hey baby girl! How's my Kenzie girl? Huh? How's my little munchkin?!" Mackenzie giggled and let out a little squeal. Kate turned to Alexis, "Hey Lex!" Alexis stood up and smiled, "Hey Kate. Did my Dad tell you what his big plans are for today?" Kate laughed and said "No but he sure does seem excited!" They both laugh as Castle walks into the room carrying Aaden. "Hey Hun, you gonna tell us what we're doing today?" said Kate with a slight chuckle. "Nope. It's a suprise!" Castle said with a huge grin on his face.

They all finally made it out the door and packed into Castle's car. Before she knew it, Kate was in the parking lot at the mall. They all got out and put Aaden and Mackenzie into their strollers and Castle hurried them all inside and up the escalator. When Castle stopped and made a sharp right into one of the stores, Kate and Alexis looked up and saw that it was a professional photography studio. They walked inside to find that Martha was waiting for them inside with Rick. "Suprise!" Rick had made an appointment to get professional pictures of the family done to give to Kate for Christmas.

"Awww! Thanks honey! I love it!"

Rick smiled as he checked in with the desk and they were escorted back to one of the rooms where Jim, Kate's dad, was standing. When Jim moved to the side, there was a table with a candle, some roses and a picture of Johanna, Kate's late mother. Everyone turned to look at Kate as tears rolled down her face. "Happy tears..." she said. She missed her mother everyday. The photographer entered the room and got everyone situated. 2 hours later, they were still taking pictures but Aaden and Mackenzie were beginning to become tired and irritated. They decided to call it a day and everybody went back to Rick's apartment. They put the kids down for a nap and sat around the table to talk for a little while.

"I am so glad we had the chance to do this. I really love getting to spend time with my wonderful family" Kate said with a smile.

" And just what would you have done if I had not started doing 'research' 6 years ago?" said Rick.

"I wouldn't be here with you...and I would've never found my mom's killer." … "I love you so much" said Kate.

"I love you too Kate. Always."


End file.
